The invention relates to a spinning machine having a plurality of spinning units arranged next to one another which each have at least one device for spinning a yarn, one device for withdrawing a yarn, and one device for winding the yarn onto a spool. A movable servicing apparatus is provided which can be applied to the individual spinning units for piecing and comprises a splicing device for connecting a newly spun new yarn with an old yarn taken off the spool package, devices picking up the new yarn and for placing it in the splicing device, devices for picking up the old yarn and placing it in the splicing device, and a yarn storage device which can be placed between the device for the withdrawing and the splicing device.
A spinning machine of the initially mentioned type is described in German Published Examined Patent Application (DE-A) 36 11 050 in which, during a piecing operation, a newly spun double yarn is connected with an old double yarn taken off a wind-up package spool by means of splicing in a splicing device.
A semi-automatically operating machine is also known--German Patent Document (DE-C) 27 28 620--in which a newly spun single yarn is manually placed in a movable servicing apparatus. Likewise, an old yarn taken off a package spool is inserted into the servicing apparatus. The servicing apparatus is equipped with a knotting device which automatically makes a knot between the old and the new yarn. During this knotting operation, the continuously produced new yarn is sucked into a pneumatic yarn storage device.
It was known, in the case of spooling frames such as described in German Patent Documents DE-C 27 50 913 and DE-C 30 04 721, to clean out yarn defects during a rewinding operation and, in the process, establish spliced connections between the yarn withdrawn from a cop and the yarn wound onto a cross-wound package. In this type of a spooling frame, the supply of the yarn, i.e., the withdrawal of the yarn from the cop, is interrupted during the establishment of a spliced connection.
It is an object of the invention to develop a spinning machine of the initially mentioned type such that the yarns to be connected, i.e., the newly spun new yarn and the old yarn withdrawn from the package, are securely inserted into the splicing device in a specified position.
This object is achieved according to the invention in that the splicing device has a splicing duct directed toward the package, in that the yarn storage device is arranged approximately as an extension of the splicing duct, and in that a guiding element of the servicing apparatus which transfers the new yarn into the area of the yarn storage device can be moved between the device for the withdrawal of the new yarn and the devices for picking up the new yarn which can be moved into the area between the package and the splicing device.
Because of the fact that the splicing duct of the splicing device is directed toward the spool package, it is easily possible to place the old yarn picked up from the spool package in the splicing device by means of a relatively simple element for the picking-up and inserting. The devices for picking up this old yarn must only carry out a relatively simple movement, such as a swivel movement. These devices can then, in a simple manner, hold the yarn for so long in the splicing device until its elements pick up and hold the yarn. For the newly spun yarn, the yarn storage device acts as a holding element which, in connection with the devices for picking up the new yarn, provides that the new yarn is also inserted securely and in a defined manner in the splicing device.
In a further development of the invention, guiding elements of the servicing apparatus for the old yarn withdrawn from the spool package are provided between the spool package and the splicing device, these guiding elements being movable transversely with respect to the splicing duct. As a result, it becomes possible to take into account the fact that the old yarn is withdrawn from the cross-wound package, in which case, its withdrawal point in practice may be any point of the axial length of the spool package. By means of the guiding elements, it is ensured that the yarn nevertheless securely reaches the splicing duct. In an advantageous development, two guiding fingers are provided which are arranged essentially in a V-shape on a common shaft extending in parallel with respect to the splicing duct, these guiding fingers being pivoted by means of driving elements. These guiding fingers are used not only for guiding the old yarn coming from the spool package securely into the splicing device, but also for placing the old yarn such that after the splicing and the subsequent rewithdrawal, it cannot become hung up at other elements.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.